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Wednesday, 17 July 2013

Learn to farm from your computer!

Open
Distance Learning could become an economical alternative for many
students and provide needed exposure for agriculture in education.

Ever-increasing university enrollment rates means that physical
structures such as lecture halls and student living quarters are being
stretched to the breaking point. A remedy to the infrastructural limits
of on-site education is Open Distance Learning (ODL), an accesible,
convenient, and relatively widely-available alternative via technologies
like SMS, internet and social media.
A number of institutions have adopted this new technology to teach
their programmes. Nevertheless, finding an agricultural ODL program is
not that easy.Coursera, Udacity, edX–none
of them seem to have agricultural courses available. Maybe – just maybe
– I haven’t looked hard enough. Today’s side event called ‘Teaching
Agriculture using ODL” at the 6th FARA Africa Agriculture Science Week in Accra, Ghana, has changed all that.
The University of South Africa (UNISA)
has integrated ODL in its educational system – including agriculture
courses! With over 400, 000 students scattered all over the world, UNISA
is an institution worth emulating in this regard. Students have access
to lecture notes, study materials, assignments, and digital libraries,
and they never even set foot on campus. There is even an SMS system in
place that notifies a students of the receipt of their assignments and
exams.
ODL is enhancing research, too, thanks to improved collaboration
between universities and research institutions. Data-sharing among
instructions has eased access to knowledge and paved the way for rapid
advances to be made in agriculture.

The challenges: Is ODL really for everyone?

The relative ease of ODL does not mean that the system will work for
everyone; there are a number of challenges that complicate its use. Many
areas in Africa, including the cities, are plagued by an unstable
electricity supply. Poor students may lack access to modern gadgets such
as computers and cell phones. The self-motivation required for ODL may
also make it inappropriate for some students; high dropout rates may
occur due to their inability to maintain the discipline of self-study or
the feeling of loneliness (Faruque, 1998)
There isn’t a clear-cut, ‘perfect’ model to adopt in implementing an
ODL. Careful considerations need to be made with respect to
advances/changes in technology, appropriateness of place and person, and
subject matter. Nevertheless, the successful creation of more and
better ODL programs could well bring agriculture the exposure it needs
in African educational systems.Blogpost by Dominic Kornu, a social media reporter for AASW6.
Source: UNISA: Case study of teaching Agriculture via ODL